Little is currently known about the validity, completeness and availability of data regarding acute poisonings. The successful conduct of outcome and program evaluation research in poison control requires strategies for obtaining appropriate data, strategies in turn depend on knowledge about the relevant sources of data. We will employ systematic survey and sampling procedures to obtain demographic, exposure, management and outcome information about acute poisonings that occur in the service area of the Intermountain Regional Poison Control Center (IRPCC). We will sample four sources of data: the lay public, hospital records, private physician records, and the records of the IRPCC. Data from the public will be obtained in a survey; information from physicians will be obtained prospectively; and hospital and IRPCC data will be obtained from a retrospective review of case records. The same basic information will be sought from all data sources, and data gathering instruments will be as similar as possible. We will determine the percentage of missing data for each source and the relationship and agreement of data between sources. Reporting of the data will include an estimate of the number and severity of poisonings in Utah, an analysis of the role of the IRPCC in the management of poisonings in the State, and an assessment of the correlation of data about poisonings from different sources.